


Happy Fucking Family

by anna_marlena



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Bipolar Ian, Canon-Typical Violence, Cuteness overload, Fluff, Gallavich, Happy Family, M/M, Mention of Statutory Rape, Swearing, Tags to be added, canon compliant until 4x12, canon-typical insults, drama will make an appearance, everyone deserves some happy mickey and ian, family life, ian takes his meds, mention of underage relationships, mickey is such a dad, no non-con, to everyone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-08
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2018-10-01 04:59:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10181219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anna_marlena/pseuds/anna_marlena
Summary: Canon compliant until 4x12Mickey and Ian have settled into their lives, somehow successfully coparenting Yev with Svetlana, building a family that is not only working, but working well. Because they deserve some fucking happiness, after all the shit they have gone through. The rest of the Gallaghers are happily along for the ride.Happy Gallavich fluff, with a dab of drama for good measure, because we deserve to see the two happy together, don't we?!





	1. I'm not cute

Mickey loved the early moments of waking up in the morning next to Ian. Looking at the redhead, peaceful, his face nuzzled into the pillow and hand slightly outstretched as if to reach for Mickey even when asleep, he couldn’t do anything but be grateful for the second chance at a good life he had been granted. He hadn’t counted on it, to be honest. He had expected to live a mediocre life at best, married to a woman he didn’t like and with a baby he didn’t want, surrounded by family members that would never accept him for who he really was. Admittedly, people had had to push him to his luck, and he had had to break a few bones along the way, but Mickey wouldn’t change a thing.

The young man kept observing the love of his life next to him, counting the many faint freckles that covered Ian’s nose and cheeks. They used to be more pronounced and Mickey distinctly remembered people making fun of Ian because of them back in Middle School. Not that he had paid Ian any real attention back then!

Just then, a faint sound of crying travelled to the bedroom. Before it could get any louder and wake everyone in the house, Mickey extracted himself from the warm covers of the bed and walked into the living room, where Yevgeny’s crib was set up close to the couch. It had been in Svetlana’s room for the first few months of the child’s life, but after coming to the truce that they had now, the crib had moved into the front room, so Svetlana wasn’t always woken first by the wails of the 10-months-old, especially on days when she worked nights at the Alibi. 

Svetlana, Mickey and Ian had found a routine to live and work together. After much debating and grumbling, Mickey had started working as a bouncer at the club Ian was dancing at, leaving Svetlana with the responsibility to manage the Rub’n’Tug above the Alibi. She had also picked up bartending at the Alibi during the day, and sometimes at night. Mickey really only had to care for their establishment on the occasions where customers had behaved improperly and needed a reminder of who was in charge. As the Milkoviches had quite the reputation, though, this didn’t happen all that often.

With all of them having somewhat steady jobs, a tight schedule had been put up for the care of Yev. As Ian and Mickey mostly worked nights, they were usually the ones to take care of the baby during the day, as well as somewhat managing the household and other family matters. Naturally, Svetlana complained about most of their decisions regarding cleaning and shopping for food, but it was never done out of spite. Mickey had grown used to Svetlana’s antics, and could only ever smile whenever she found something that wasn’t done properly. The routine worked surprisingly well for all parties involved, mostly because Mickey and Svetlana had actually started getting along, minus their constant bickering, and Ian absolutely doted on the baby.

Yev was sitting up in his crib, his face scrunched up and red from crying. It didn’t seem as if he would go back to sleep anytime soon, so Mickey resigned himself to an early morning spent with his son.

“What’s got your diaper in a twist, huh?” he asked the baby when he lifted Yev out of the crib. As an answer, Yev calmed down considerately upon contact with his father, his cries turning from ear-piercing to quiet sniffles. Somehow, Mickey had that affect on his son. Whereas everyone else got riled up in his presence, Yev would always calm down as soon as he was close to his father. Mickey would never say this out loud, but he did feel a little proud of this fact. 

“You hungry?” Mickey knew he wouldn’t get an answer, but he liked talking to the baby, so he asked anyway while moving to the kitchen to get out one of the already prepared bottles of milk from the fridge. It didn’t take long to heat it up in the microwave and soon after, Mickey was sitting down on the couch, Yev contentedly emptying his bottle in his arms.

“You cute with baby.” Mickey suddenly head and he looked up to see Svetlana standing in the doorway to her room, watching him and their son. 

“I ain’t cute” Mickey rebutted immediately, hating the word with a passion. He was a badass South Side criminal with a record as long as his arm. He was not cute.

“You tell yourself, I tell otherwise” Svetlana replied, then turned back into her room and closed to door. Mickey only shook his head. He was not cute. 

After dropping the empty bottle in the kitchen sink and changing the baby’s diaper, Mickey moved back into his and Ian’s bedroom. The redhead was still sleeping tightly, his head now almost buried beneath the blanket. It was no wonder. While Mickey had had the night off, Ian had had a shift until 3am. He had only crawled into bed a little over two hours ago, so it was only logical he was still deeply asleep. 

Holding Yevgeny tight with only one arm, Mickey crawled back under the covers in the bed. He might not be able to go back to sleep now that the baby was awake, but he could still spend his time close to Ian and in the warm comforts of an only slightly uncomfortable bed. 

Resting his son on his chest, Mickey played with his son’s soft blond hair, a habit he had picked up in the last few months whenever the child rested on him. It was a small miracle that such a sweet baby could result from such horrid circumstances as it had. Sometimes Mickey wished it wouldn’t have happened, but then he wouldn’t have such a wonderful kid in his life now, and Yevgeny seemed to make all the hardship Mickey had gone through worth it. 

Mickey was so deeply consumed with his thoughts that he didn’t notice Ian stirring slightly beside him and opening his eyes. It was only when Ian slightly grasped Mickey’s hand next to his that the older noticed his boyfriend was awake.

“You’re really cute with Yev” Ian murmured, his voice still thick with sleep and a slight smile on his face.

“Go back to sleep” Mickey only replied, stroking his thumb over Ian’s palm. Ian did as he was told, slipping back into sleep immediately after closing his eyes. 

Mickey had said it once, and he would say it again. He was not cute. But his son definitely was.


	2. Ask and You Shall Receive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, solutions to your problems come at the most fitting of moments, all you gotta do is ask.

“We need better fence” Svetlana announced as soon as she came into the house after her shift supervising the Rub’n’Tug and bartending at the Alibi Room. This was her usual routine; come home from work and find something to complain about. The week before, it had been the trash lying around in the front yard. Her nagging did have the pleasant result of Mickey and Ian clearing out the junk in the yard, so there would be more space for Yev to play outside. There might actually be enough space for a sand box for the little boy. 

“Well, give me the money and I’ll buy a fucking new fence” Mickey replied from his perch on the couch. The summer heat was doing his head in, making him crankier than the 10-months-old baby he was holding in his arms. 

“We don’t just need a new fence, we could use an entire new house” Ian piped up from the kitchen, where he was packing a bag with baby supplies. As per usual every Thursday, the Milkovich-Gallagher household was expected for dinner and nighttime relaxing at the original Gallagher residence, which included a stint in the above-ground pool, which would be much needed to cool down Mickey’s mood and everyone else’s bodies. “Preferably one with air-conditioning and working water.”

“Water not working again?” Svetlana asked, sitting down besides Mickey and fanning herself with one of the many magazines she kept lying around in the living room. 

“It’s been on and off all day” Mickey said, his gaze not straying from the small child sitting on his lap, holding onto his hands to keep him from toppling over.

“Well, can’t really do anything about shitty pipes” Ian settled the issue, coming into the living room with the bag full of supplies for Yevgeny. “You gonna change before heading over to Fi’s?” he said, directing his question at Mickey, who was only wearing a wife beater and boxer shorts. It was just so damn hot in the house!

“Why, your family won’t appreciate my outfit?” Mickey quipped, but got off the couch and handed Svetlana their son. 

“I don’t think anyone appreciates the sweaty, smelly hobo look” Ian gave back, dodging Mickey who tried to whack him over the head. 

“Don’t lie to yourself, tough guy, you love my musk!”

“Not this one! You smell like a landfill!” Ian only chuckled at the middle finger he received for the comment. 

While waiting for Mickey to change, Ian sat down next to Svetlana, copying her in fanning himself with a magazine. 

“We really do need a new house. The other day I closed the closet a little too hard and half of the wall caved in. Not long and the whole house will collapse with us inside” he said, his eyes closed and head resting on the back of the couch.

“Finding place big enough for all of us is hard” Svetlana commented, kissing her son’s head lightly. They would need at least a four-bedroom house, and those were expensive and hard to come by in their neighborhood. 

“Did you pack bathing suit for me and swimming diaper for Yevgeny?” she asked after a moment of silence between the two. Ian pointed to the bag at his feet.

“All in there.” Svetlana smiled at the red-hear next to her.

“You good person, carrot boy. I like you in family. You stay for good, okay?” she said, complete honesty in her voice. It wasn’t often that Svetlana was so open to the people around her, but her words were the truth. She liked Ian around, he made Mickey happy and that only improved their overall family life. 

“You gonna stay on the couch the whole evening?” Mickey asked then, coming back out of his and Ian’s room, dressed in board shorts and a fresh shirt with cut-off sleeves. He grabbed the baby bag from the floor and headed outside, followed by Ian and Svetlana carrying Yev. 

The way to the Gallagher house wasn’t far and the trio plus baby made the trek in record time, walking faster just for the sake of getting out of the stifling heat. 

“Ding dong, we here” Svetlana announced when she opened the front door. They were greeted with somewhat cool air and the usual chaos of the Gallagher house during the summer: loud music was blasting from the TV where Carl was watching MTV, Debbie was chasing a naked Liam and Fiona was chopping veggies at the kitchen counter while yelling at Carl to turn down the volume.

When he saw that Carl wasn’t reacting to Fiona’s words, Mickey grabbed the remote and lowered the volume himself. Carl was about to protest, but when he saw who had turned down the music, he stopped. Somehow, Mickey had that effect on Carl. He was the only one Carl would listen to. Out of fear or secret idolization, no one knew, but Fiona at least was glad that someone got through to the troublesome pre-teen. 

“Can’t hear yourself think with that noise!” Mickey just said, and then moved into the kitchen where Ian and Svetlana had already sat down at the counter and received something cold to drink. 

“Thank you Mickey. I was going crazy with that noise” Fiona said in greeting, handing Mickey a beer and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever” Mickey mumbled, moving over to stand by the kitchen table that had already been set for far too many people than it could seat. 

“Who else is coming for dinner?” Ian asked, having noticed the unusually large number of place settings as well. 

“Well, it’s the three of you plus baby, the four of us, and then Lip is coming from college and he’s bringing a friend” Fiona counted, ticking off the people on her fingers, “and then Sammi invited herself, so it’s her and Chucky, and V and Kev are coming over later for drinks.”

“Sammi is coming? Why can’t you uninvite her?” Debbie commented from where she was wrestling Liam into shorts and a t-shirt on the floor. 

“She is crazy woman with bad attitude. I don’t want her around baby” Svetlana agreed with the younger Gallagher. 

“Well, I’ll make her leave after dinner, otherwise she’ll never go. That woman is a fucking leech” Mickey said, putting his bottle of beer down on the table to take Yev from his mother. 

“Why doesn’t she understand that no one wants her around? Even Frank is staying clear of her now that he doesn’t need her liver anymore” Ian mused, but was interrupted when the door opened and Lip entered, followed by a pretty Asian girl. 

“Hey guys, is it hot out or what?” he said in greeting, kissing the women in the room on the cheek and slapping the guys’ shoulders. “This is Amanda; Amanda, this is my family.” The timid girl was greeted in unison and Lip moved to the fridge to get himself a beer, looking askance at Amanda is she wanted one, too. The girl nodded and Lip returned to his spot next to her, their drinks in hand. 

“Man, you could fry an egg on the pavement. Hasn’t been this hot in some time!”

“Well, you don’t get to complain, you have running water” Svetlana griped, taking another sip of her soda. 

“Your water not working?” Fiona asked, worry clear on her face. 

“Nah, pipes are busted” Ian replied, shrugging his shoulders. What could they do, really?

“The whole house is fucking busted” Mickey added, ignoring the glare that was sent his way by Ian, “It’s true, sooner or later that dump is gonna fall apart, with us inside.”

“You know that if I had the room or the money, I would help you out in a heartbeat, right?” Fiona asked, still looking worried. 

“Yeah, we know, Mother Theresa of South Side” Mickey answered, “but we just have to get through it somehow.”

“Well, let’s just have dinner, alright, and then jump into the pool.”

*** 

During dinner, the commotion within the Gallagher house calmed down. Even with so many people surrounding the table, including toddlers and teenagers, it was mostly Sammi who was heard lamenting about all the different things that went wrong in her life, which were, admittedly, quite many.

Mickey was just in the process of transferring the mushrooms he had picked out of Fiona’s chicken-noodle casserole – he hated mushrooms – onto Ian’s plate next to his, when he noticed a pair of eyes on him. Mickey looked up to see Lip’s friend Amanda looking his way, but averting her eyes when she noticed she had been caught.

“I’m sorry, it’s just… How are you guys in relation to each other again?” she said, motioning to Ian, Mickey and Svetlana with the baby in her lap. The table grew silent, but before anyone of the trio in question could answer, Lip took the lead. 

“Don’t worry, it’s complicated even to us” he started, then pointed to Ian. “That’s my brother Ian, and that” he pointed at Mickey, “is his boyfriend Mickey; and that” he turned his attention to Svetlana, “is Mickey’s wife. And that’s their baby.”

Amanda furrowed her brows. “Whose baby?”

“Kind of all of ours, really” Mickey supplied, grinning at his partners in the matter. “I’m the biological father, but Ian’s in there with us, too. He’s just as much Yev’s parent as Svet and I are.”

“Wait, so you’re like in a polyamorous relationship?”

“God no!” Ian exclaimed while Mickey scoffed and Svetlana let out an expletive in Russian that no one really wanted translated. “Mickey and I are a couple, but Mickey’s just married to Svetlana on paper. This way, she can’t be deported” he tried to explain. The thought of all three of them in a relationship was just completely ridiculous!

“So you two married so Svetlana could stay in the country, and decided to have a baby to make it more believable?” Amanda continued to ask and Ian felt Mickey’s body stiffen beside him and his hand gripping Ian’s thigh tightly. 

“Uhh, no, not quite… That’s a long and unpleasant story” Ian hedged the question. That particular part of their past was still uncomfortable to think about for either of them, let alone talk about it.

“I’m sorry I pried” Amanda said, suddenly embarrassed at her many questions. 

“It’s okay. It’s just not something for the dinner table” Mickey replied, trying to give the girl across the table a reassuring smile, but all that came out was a pained grimace. 

Fiona could see that the topic was not comfortable for either of her guests to talk about, so she did the only thing she could, and changed it. 

“Carl, pass the mail from the counter, would you?” she said while sending a small smile towards Mickey, who was still sporting a strained facial expression. Fiona didn’t know why the topic of Yev’s conception was an undesired topic, but she had grown fond of Mickey over the last few months since he had officially been Ian’s boyfriend, and she didn’t want to see him hurt. He had done a great job in taking care of Ian when he had been in a depressive slump and had gotten him to accept his condition and take his meds, so Fiona would forever be grateful for Mickey being somewhat a part of their family now. 

“What’s in that big-ass envelope?” Sammi piped up from where she was shoveling food into her mouth, and Fiona rolled her eyes. 

“How should I know, I haven’t opened it yet, have I?” Why hadn’t Fiona kicked out her undesired sister? She really didn’t know herself!

The eldest Gallagher sibling went through the regular mail first, bills of different kinds, and a flyer about the opening of a new coffee shop on Main Street. 

“Who the hell needs a Coffee Shop in South Side? No one’s got the money to buy their overprized fat-free lattés anyways” Lip voiced her thoughts when he snatched the flyer from the table where Fiona had dismissed it. She was concentrated on the large envelope that had arrived with the mail that day. It had the stamp of a law firm as the sender. Fiona didn’t like the look of this envelope.

“Well, with all the rich fucks buying families out of their homes, the city must think they need some perks for them to live in the ‘up and coming area’ of Chicago. Good old regular coffee is probably not good enough for them” Mickey grouched, and speared another piece of chicken with his fork. 

“I know someone who just last week bitched about ‘good old regular coffee’ tasting like shit” Ian rebutted, and grinned brightly at his boyfriend. He earned himself the reply of a middle finger.

“Holy shit!” Fiona exclaimed just then and all attention was on her.

“What’s up? Our house foreclosing again?” Lip asked, looking slightly concerned. 

“Uhhh, no. The opposite actually. Jimmy gave me a house” Fiona replied, putting down the papers she had been reading and looking at her siblings. “The house next door, actually.”

“The house next door? But didn’t Jimmy/Steve give it to Tony so he wouldn’t rat him out for the car business he had going on?” Debbie chimed in, looking more than confused. 

“Yeah, and apparently Jimmy bought it back from Tony without Tony knowing he was selling it to him, because he had a lawyer do it with Estefania’s accounts. And then he transferred the house to my name last week.”

“Well, nice to know he’s still alive, the dick. Could have told you that face to face, would have been a nice parting gift” Ian said, pulling the documents closer to him so he could read over them. “It says here the house is fully paid and taxes are covered for the next two years. Nice of him” Ian looked up at his sister, “what you gonna do with it? Move into it and leave this pile of shit of a house behind? Everyone would have their own bedroom next door.”

Fiona was quiet for a moment. The possibility of leaving this house behind and moving next door, starting afresh without the reminders and memories of awful times staring blankly at her face every day sounded more than compelling. But then again, she had had amazing times in this house as well. It held a lot of memories for her. It was practically part of the family itself.

“I don’t think we’re gonna move. This is our home right here, I don’t want to change everything” Fiona concluded her thoughts aloud, looking at her siblings. 

“Well, you could let Chucky and me-“

“NO!” Fiona immediately stopped Sammi from talking. That awful woman, no matter if family member or not, would definitely not move into the house she was just given. On the other hand…

“What else will you do with it, though? You gonna rent it out? Who would you want to have live next door?” Mickey asked, voicing what everyone at the table was probably thinking. 

“You.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said you. I would want you to live next door” Fiona said, motioning to Mickey, Svetlana and Ian across from her. “I want you to have the house. Rent-free. I’m gonna gift it to you, have your name put down as the  
owners.”

Ian didn’t know what to say. He looked to his right, where Mickey currently resembled a fish, opening and closing his mouths at a loss for words. Svetlana was losing her fight with the tears she was desperately trying to keep at bay. 

“Are- are you sure?” Ian asked, worrying his lower lip. This would be the answer to a lot of their problems, but he wasn’t sure they could accept this. This was huge. “You could sell the house, probably get a good deal of money for it, Tony flipped it only recently. You could use the money and…”

“Ian” Fiona started. “I want you to have this house. I want my family to have a home that’s not close to falling apart, and I want you to live close by. You are my family” Fiona looked at Mickey and Svetlana, with Yev on her lap, “all of you. I would be very happy if you accepted. I don’t want money from my family, I just want everyone to be happy and together.” 

“Fuck me, if you want to deal with Milkoviches as next door neighbors, I don’t think we even can say no” Mickey said then, finally able to use his voice again, but Ian could clearly hear that his voice was thick with emotion. No one was usually this nice without wanting something in return.

Fiona smiled brightly. “So this is a yes?”

“Yes, it is yes” Svetlana replied, getting up from her seat and placing her son in Mickey’s arms, then rounding the table to Fiona and enveloping her in a tight hug. _“Spasibo. Bol’shoye spasibo.”_

Ian and Mickey now also got up to thank Fiona. 

“So, if you are gonna move in next door, you won’t need all the rooms right? So I could move in with Chucky-“

“Over my dead body. You can stay in your trailer, or wherever the fuck you want, but you’re not gonna be a parasite living in our house” Mickey said, turning to Sammi where she was still sitting at the table, Chucky next to her, completely oblivious to what was happening around him. How stupid could someone actually be?

“Well, you don’t have to fucking swear at me” Sammi replied, pushing back her chair and getting up. “Come on, Chucky, I don’t think we are welcome here anymore.” With that, Sammi left the kitchen through the back door.

“Did she finally get the memo?!” Mickey said after her, shaking his head, then turning back to where Ian was still hugging his sister. 

“I’m still not sure you’re making the right decision, but thank you, Fi. You have no idea how much you are helping us with this” Ian said to his sister, kissing her cheek.

“Well, I’m glad I can help out, I told you I would if I could. Apart from the utility bills you won’t have to pay anything for the house the first two years, after that there are the property taxes, but that’s not something you have to worry about right now” Fiona replied. She then turned to the rest of the family that was still sitting around the table.

“How about we celebrate the arrival of our new neighbors? How does beer and the pool sound?”

“Awesome!” Carl replied, shooting up out of his seat and grabbing a bottle of beer.

“Yeah, dream on, buddy” Mickey said, snatching the bottle of alcohol out of the pre-teen’s hands. “You can stay with soda.” Carl glared at Mickey, but did as he was told and filled a plastic cup with soda for him,  
and another one for Debbie.

The group moved out to the back yard, the rest of dinner and clean up forgotten after the happy news. Chairs were pulled up close to the pool and the kids dived into the water, eager to escape the still hot weather of the evening. 

Ian pulled off his shirt and moved to get Yev into his swimming diapers, then took the baby and sank into the pool with him. Mickey grinned as he saw his boyfriend playing in the water with his son – no, their son. Whenever Mickey said this, his chest swelled. He would never admit it to anyone outside his family, but he was fucking pussy-whipped for that ginger boy. If Mickey believed in soul mates, he would say he had already found his…

“You happy?” Svetlana asked from where she sat on a lounge chair next to Mickey. The young man looked over at his ‘wife’ and nodded. 

“Yeah, I am.”

“Well, I am happy when you are happy. But I am also happy because of new house. No more worry about water or air-conditioning. No more worries at all” the Russian replied, smiling at Mickey, who gave her a rare genuine smile back. 

“Let’s get this party started!” Fiona exclaimed then, cranking up the music from the boom box Lip had dragged outside.

“Go into water, Mickey. You bitched about heat all day” Svetlana ordered her friend and sham-husband, and knowing better, Mickey complied. He rid himself of his shirt and climbed the ladder to the pool.  
Ian received Mickey with Yevgeny in his arms, hitting his little hands onto the water and creating splashes. The trio moved to the edge of the pool and huddled close, the baby in their middle.

“You happy?” Ian asked, looking deep into his boyfriend’s eyes, as if he was trying to look right into Mickey’s soul.

“Why the fuck is everyone asking me that?” Mickey griped, but then smiled slightly, “but yes. I am happy. Really fucking happy.” 

Ian smiled and dipped down to catch Mickey’s lips in a sweet kiss, moving back far quicker than Mickey would have liked.

“I want you to be happy. I want us to be happy, all of us” he said, pressing his lips first to Yev’s temple, and then again to Mickey’s lips, this time lingering there longer.

“Get a room, you two! Geez, there’s kids around! There’s a kid in your fucking arms even!” 

Mickey turned his head and broke the kiss, seeing Kev and Veronica entering the back yard from the back alley, each parent with a baby in arm. He flipped the tall man off for his words.

“What’s the occasion for the party?” Veronica asked as she sat down next to Fiona on one of the deck chairs, Amy in her arms, already halfway asleep despite the loud music. 

“We got new neighbors” Fiona replied.

“Shit, and that’s good news? We might get stuck up bitches living between us!”

“Nah, they’re not stuck up. Rather progressive, I would say.”

“Why do I have the feeling you already know who’s gonna move in?”

“’Cause I already know” Fiona replied and laughed at V’s face. She was always too nosy for her own good. 

“Well? You gonna make me guess?” Veronica was getting impatient, and in her sleep-deprived state because of the twins, no one wanted to see the woman impatient.

“You ready for Milkoviches as neighbors?” Fiona asked and Veronica’s eyes widened.

“What Milkoviches?”

“Our Milkoviches, of course.” Fiona moved on to relay the news of the house and Veronica’s eyes widened even more.

“You gave them the house? Fiona, you should probably be the recipient of the ‘best sister award’, for the rest of your life!” V exclaimed, shocked at what she heard. “But man, no one’s gonna fuck with our street if Mickey Milkovich is gonna live on it!” 

“Damn straight no one’s gonna fuck with us!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read and left kudos, comments etc. in the first chapter. Seriously made my day!
> 
> In case you're not fluent in Russian (like me) and are wondering, the phrases in cursive from Svetlana mean 'Thank you, thank you very much'. I got this off Google Translate, so if there are any native Russian speakers out there, and it's wrong, please let me know so I can correct it! I just feel that Svetlana would mix her English with Russian, so I wanted to incorporate it into the story. Also, I love writing for Svetlana, she is one of my favorite characters, even if I don't like her recent storyline (cough*season 6 and 7*cough)
> 
> As always, I would love to hear your thoughts about the chapter. Feel free to pop into my comment section, I always answer!
> 
> Again, thanks to Sara for pre-reading all my chapters, so it's not complete bullshit!


	3. Moving Celebrations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's moving day, and what is better than to celebrate that, Gallagher style?!

The day of the move, two weeks after the announcement of Fiona receiving the house, was also the day the police permanently shut down the Rub’n’Tug. Mickey wasn’t quite sure whether he was supposed to be angry or relieved, but ultimately settled on somewhere in between. He had never intended to be a pimp, and while the establishment above the Alibi Room had been a steady source of income, he also wasn’t that keen on having his wife work as a prostitute, no matter if the marriage was fake or not. He was old-fashioned like that, even if he had always lived in an area where prostitution was nothing frowned upon.

Svetlana, too, was glad she didn’t have to take care of the Rub’n’Tug anymore, mostly for the sake of her son. Yevgeny was still young, so he didn’t understand what his mother did for a living, but there would come a time when he did, and Svetlana didn’t want Yev to carry any repercussions because of her job. Also, she liked bartending far better than jerking of smelly old dudes, what a surprise!

That was the reason the threesome received their moving helpers a little morose. The missing money would be noticed sooner or later, even with the additional jobs either of them held, but nevertheless, the impending move to a better house, leaving behind the bad memories they had all experienced in the Milkovich house was something that made their mood lighten up, at least a little bit.

Tony had not only flipped the house next door to the Gallaghers, but also fitted it with new furniture and appliances, so only a few things would have to be taken from the old house, mostly personal belongings and the furniture that would end up in the nursery in the new house, the changing table and crib. Mickey had organized a van from one of his old associates in the ‘thug business’ and along with Kev’s truck, all things were quickly loaded up. 

Once arrived at the new house, all Gallaghers, Milkoviches and Balls present, minus Svetlana and V, who had their hands full with keeping three babies and a toddler, Liam, at bay, unloaded the van and truck and moved all crates and boxes, as well as other odds and ends inside. Prior to the move, Ian, Mickey and Svetlana had decided on which room would belong to who and where everything would be put. Ian and Mickey had decided that Svetlana should have the master bedroom (“You won’t fit all your fucking clothes anywhere else!”) and Mickey and Ian would take the next largest room down the hall. Yev’s nursery would be situated between the two parent bedrooms, which would leave two more guest rooms; more than enough space for the family, and any guests they would receive in the coming future. 

“I don’t know how I feel about you having a nicer house than any of us” Kev commented while lugging two boxes through the front door. “The dirtiest white boy of Chicago and a Russian prostitute having a better crib than me? Not cool.”

“Fuck off, this is hardly a McMansion, so don’t be a pussy about it. Bitch about it to Fiona if you’re so upset” Mickey griped back, moving past Kevin with a box of his own in his arms. “Jesus Christ, Svet, how many pairs of shoes do you have? This is the third box! Where did you keep them the last year?”

“You punch people, I buy shoes. Everybody has different therapy” Svetlana answered from her perch on the couch where she was trying to feed Yevgeny, who was far too excited about all the commotion around him to pay attention to the bottle of formula in front of his face. 

The rest of the move continued in the same fashion, people nagging about all the crap they had to carry, and Mickey bitching back, one of his specialties. Still, they worked efficiently, and only a few hours after loading up the van, everything was where it was supposed to be in the new house. 

As a thank you to their helpers, even though it was a matter of course for all involved, Ian got out a few cases of beer and bowls of chips as everyone got comfortable in the back yard on the chairs and lounges they had dragged over from the houses next door.

“You know what we could do?” V started after a few sips of beer. “We could tear down the fences separating the back yards and have one giant garden, install a sand box and a swing set for the kids, and maybe even make the pool a permanent thing. The new neighbors with their garden project crap would bite their asses when they see what we have done.”

“That’s actually not a bad idea, we are at each others’ houses all the time anyways, so why not combine the gardens?” Fiona agreed, looking over to the third party in the matter.

“I don’t fucking care about the garden one way or the other” Mickey said, opting out of the decision making. 

“It just important it safe for babies. We need fence at street in back, so no baby can get out” Svetlana noted, then looked at Ian for the final decision.

“Why not? It won’t be much different from now anyways, but Svetlana is right, the fences to the street should stay, just for the babies’ sake. I don’t want anything to happen” he settled the matter and smiled at his sister. Ian liked living so close to his family again. He had liked living with Mickey and Svetlana, but sometimes he did miss the chaos of the Gallagher household. Now he would have the best of both worlds. 

“And you know what’s even better?” Fiona said, grinning into her bottle of beer, “Whenever the kids annoy me and I need a time out, I now have a guest room right next door!”

“Just don’t make it an every day occasion!”

*** 

Soon after, Kev and Ian moved to light the barbeque to get started on food. While Svetlana and Veronica lay down the kids for a bit of an afternoon nap, Mickey sat down at the garden table that had been moved over from the Gallagher’s backyard, nursing a beer and enjoying the view of all of his family united. He was deep in his thoughts when Debbie sat down next to him with a loud huff. 

“What’s got your panties in a twist, red?” Mickey asked, setting down his beer and looking at the younger girl.

“Nothing” Debbie just replied.

“Cut the crap, Debbie. What’s going on?” Debbie sighed once deeply, then turned to look at Mickey.

“Why doesn’t Matty want to be my boyfriend? Is something wrong with me? Everyone else in my class has a boyfriend, Ally even has two, but why don’t I have a boyfriend?”

Mickey groaned and rubbed his hands over his face. He seriously regretted asking what was wrong with Debbie.

“Why the fuck do you want a boyfriend so much?”

“Well, everyone has a boyfriend. You have a boyfriend.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t have a boyfriend when I was 14, and most of the time, they are pretty annoying anyways, so why do you want one so bad?” Mickey tried to explain, but only got a confused look from Debbie in return.

“So you’re saying Ian is annoying?”

“What? No, of course not! But I used to be a pretty shitty boyfriend for some time, so be happy you don’t have to deal with that yet. Also, you want to be a teen mom?” 

“No, of course not!”

“Well, then you also don’t want a boyfriend, 'cause guys are usually pretty stupid and sooner or later you will end up knocked up and drop out of school.”

“Fiona dropped out of school, Ian did. You did” Debbie countered.

“And you want me as a role model? Trust me, you really don’t” Mickey shot back, giving Debbie a look that said arguing was useless. Debbie frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, annoyed at Mickey’s words. The young man sat his bottle back down and sighed.

“Look. All I’m saying is that you don’t have to worry about boyfriends. Not yet, not ever. You are a nice girl, smart, pretty, you don’t have to stoop to the level of the other bitches in your gradeand measure yourself on the amount of guys you have screwed. You don’t need that. One day, your Prince Charming or what the fuck ever will knock at your door and sweep you off your feet and take you to a better neighborhood. You don’t have to worry about that yet, you really don’t.” Mickey felt the need to punch something to regain his masculinity back after that pussy speech. But he could see in Debbie’s face that his words had the desired effect.

“You really think so?”

“Would I have said it otherwise?” Mickey smiled when Debbie’s face transformed from a frown to a small grin. 

“Thanks, Mickey.” Debbie stood and moved to press a kiss to Mickey’s cheek, then skipped off inside the house, where the drinks were stored in the fridge to stay cool.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever…”

*** 

The celebrations moved from dinner to partying with loud music and pool games. It was getting dark outside, but that didn’t deter the group from being rambunctious in the water, dunking each other and splashing the ones that sat around the pool. They had cranked up the music to maximum capacity, and the bass was reverberating in the street behind their houses, making it appear as if the music came from all around them. 

Mickey and Ian kept playing with Liam in the water, throwing him in the air and letting him jump in the water from their shoulders or the edge of the pool, always close by to catch him if things went south. The little boy’s screeches of delight were so loud, not even the deafening music could drown them out. 

Mickey was just about to throw Liam back into the water when a pair of people moved to the back gate of the garden, looking like they were constipated or smelling a something bad. Or both.

“Uhm, excuse me?” The woman of the pair asked, trying to get attention from the partying crowd. No one paid the woman any attention.

“EXCUSE ME!” The woman asked again, this time louder.

“The fuck you want?” Lip asked from where he was carrying Carl on his shoulders, who was trying to throw Debbie, on Kev’s shoulders, in the water. 

“Would it be possible to turn the music down a little? Our daughter is trying to sleep and your music is rather loud. She has summer school tomorrow” the woman tried to explain, but was cut off before she could say anything else.

“Lady, you live in South Side now. It’s not even ten yet, so you can do fuck all about the music. Do yourself a favor and take the stick out of your ass and leave us the fuck alone. And don’t torture your kid with fucking summer school. School sucks ass enough, she won’t need more of it in the summer” Mickey told her, ignoring Ian’s elbow to the side.

“You are around kids! Do you always talk like that?” the woman exclaimed, a shocked look on her face.

“Trust me, the kids have been around a lot of worse shit than swear words and loud music. And now get the fuck away from my property or I will have to make you” Mickey replied, looking as if he was going to make true on his words. Of course he was only bluffing, he didn’t really care for any trouble or a stint in jail, especially with his father a resident there, but he was getting annoyed with the pretentious people that had started moving into their neighborhood. 

“Holy fuck, Mickey, you can’t say stuff like that to people” Ian admonished his boyfriend when the intruders had left.

“Like hell I can’t! You just saw that I can. They all need to calm the fuck down and mind their own business” Mickey replied, rolling his eyes at Ian’s words. Sometimes, Ian really was too good for their neighborhood! Mickey turned to Liam who was sitting at the edge of the pool, waiting for one of the adults to help him jump in.

“Now buddy, you wanna jump again?”

The kids continued to play in the water until the sun completely set and it got a little chilly. Everyone moved inside to change into dry clothes, Mickey helping Liam into new shorts and a shirt, the little boy suddenly so tired he could barely keep his eyes open. Lifting the 4 year old in his arms, Mickey walked back outside and settled him in one of the empty lounge chairs, where Liam continued to slumber. Mickey moved to sit next to Fiona and Svetlana, taking their son from Svetlana’s arms to give her a break. Yev was also already sleeping, and it would soon be time to completely retire him to his new nursery. 

“You know what, Mickey?” Fiona started, and from the sound of her voice, she was going to say something that Mickey wouldn’t completely like, or at least not outwardly like.

“I’m sure you’re gonna tell me.”

“You are really great with the kids. With Liam, and I also saw how you talked to Debbie earlier. You really have a great hand with kids.”

“Yeah, well, don’t think I’m gonna be babysitter anytime soon” Mickey shot back, but inwardly he agreed with Fiona. He had managed the situation with Debbie well, and playing with Liam had been fun.

“I don’t want anything from you, don’t worry. I’m just saying I’m happy you are part of my family” Fiona continued, and then looked at Svetlana as well, “You, too, Lana. You have become a good friend. I’m glad we all met, no matter the circumstances.” At her last words, Mickey and Svetlana both looked at each other. The words rang true in both their ears. Their initial meeting had been awful, and they both would rather forget about that part if it weren’t for the fact that it had resulted in the baby in Mickey’s arm. But over the passing months, Svetlana and Mickey had grown to be close friends, and no matter their bad start, they wouldn’t change it for anything.

“You are good friend, too” Svetlana directed her words to Fiona, who gave the Russian a genuine smile.

“Yeah, you’re not so bad.” Mickey said, too, earning a whack over the head for his airy-fairy words. 

That night, the first night in their new home, Mickey lay awake long after Ian had fallen asleep by his side. He recalled Fiona’s words and allowed himself to smile slightly. He felt pleasant warmth in his chest when he thought about how everyone accepted him in his new hodge-potch family. He was accepted the way he really was, which had never really been the case before. 

Fucking Gallaghers, they really got under his skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone reading and commenting and leaving Kudos! I seriously love all you guys so much! Can't believe people actually like what I'm writing!
> 
> Also a heads up, I probably won't be able to update this story for the next week and a half or so, I'm moving house this weekend and I seriously don't have the time to write anything until then/until I'm settled in.  
> But maybe check out the other stuff I have already posted on here, it's all kinds of different fandoms, maybe you like reading those things, too!
> 
> Cheers! XX


	4. I don't need no education...or do I?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With summer coming to an end, Ian feels that maybe there is more in his future than working in a bar

The train car was quiet, empty except for a homeless guy sleeping in a corner and Mickey and Ian sitting next to each other at the other end. 

They had had a long shift that night, longer than usual because some chick had decided it was a good idea to celebrate her bachelorette party at Fairytale and stay way past her welcome. The women kept on buying drinks, and they couldn’t very well kick out paying customers, no matter if it was past closing time or not. This meant an over extra work for both Ian and Mickey, who had started the last shift and had to stay until the very end. It had been 4:30 in the morning by the time they had been able to leave for the station. 

“You’re quiet tonight” Mickey noted, looking down at Ian, who had rested his head on Mickey’s shoulder, slumped in his seat. Normally, Ian would be upbeat even after the longest shift at the club, high on the adrenaline of working and the loud music blasting from the speakers, but tonight, he had barely said a word since they got off work.

Mickey didn’t want to admit it, but he was worried something was off with Ian’s medication and he was spiraling downwards again. They had managed Ian’s disorder well for the last few months, going to regular   
checkups at the free clinic and Ian had been exemplary with taking his meds on time. But changes could always happen, the doctors had told them that multiple times. 

“I’m just thinking, that’s all” Ian said quietly, taking Mickey’s hand in his and squeezing tightly. 

“Thinking? What about?”

“Just stuff…”

“What stuff?” Mickey knew that he was prying, but sometimes he had to. He didn’t want Ian to get lost in his head, it was a scary place sometimes, so he would ask as long as it would take to get an answer that was a bit more concrete. Ian understood that he only did it for his sake, detecting if something was wrong was important, so it wouldn’t get out of hand.

“About the future and stuff.” Ian knew Mickey didn’t appreciate the lack of information, but he also kind of liked this game of 20 questions, which always got Mickey riled up in the end. It was cute to see Mickey riled up, he would scrunch up his face in a particular way, and Ian loved that face.

“The future? Like space ships and shit? What you thinking about that for?”

“No, not that kind of future. My future.” Ian finally revealed. He sat up straight and looked at his boyfriend next to him. “I think I want to go back to school. Graduate. Make something out of myself. I don’t want to be a fucking stripper for the rest of my life.”

Mickey was surprised that particular topic had been the reason for Ian’s pensiveness. Of course they had talked about their jobs before, and Mickey was the first to admit that he wasn’t that happy with Ian being ogled by old farts every other night, but he had told Ian that he wouldn’t stop him from working at the club if he didn’t want him to. So far, it had never been an issue. 

“Where did that revelation come from?” Mickey asked, prodding for further explanation. 

“I’ve just been thinking for the last few days, with school starting back up soon. I kind of would like to graduate, have a real job. I don’t want Yev to be embarrassed in the future if he has to talk about the jobs of his parents. I want to help people, I have always wanted to help people. With the army out of the picture, I have to do something else, but I need to finish school for that.” 

Mickey was stunned. He hadn’t expected something quite like that, but come to think of it, it made sense. 

After the army debacle the year before, Ian enlisting was out of the picture for him. After his meds hat screwed on his head properly again, Ian had turned himself in for the shit he had pulled at the army base, and because of his condition he wasn’t convicted for it, but it still meant that Ian would have to look for a new future.

“If you want to go back to school, then do it. No one’s stopping you. But let’s talk about this in the afternoon. My head can’t comprehend anything heavy like that anymore, not after this night, okay?” Mickey conceded, taking Ian’s hand back in his and squeezing it reassuringly. Ian smiled at the dark haired young man next to him and rested his head back on his shoulder. 

“Okay.”

*** 

On days that Mickey and Ian work late, Svetlana is especially considerate with them. She had heard the pair come home early in the morning, Yevgeny had demanded a feed at that time, so she knew that the men in her life would not reemerge from their bedroom before early afternoon. Svetlana busied herself with cleaning the house and entertaining the baby, eventually going over to Veronica to have some much needed time with a woman. As much as she loved Mickey and Ian in her life, sometimes she just needed female company. She was glad that she now had two friends live right next door. And V and Fiona had really become friends over the last months. They could talk about men and babies, or just relax in the summer sun together, and it would never be awkward. Maybe it was because they didn’t know exactly how Svetlana had come into Mickey and Ian’s life. Maybe it was because they simply got along well. She didn’t care, as long as the friendship held on. 

So Svetlana was surprised when she saw Mickey emerge from their back door only a little after noon, cigarette in mouth and a cup of coffee in hand. He still looked tired, his hair disheveled and his clothes wrinkly. He eventually saw the two women sitting in the back yard adjacent to his, and Mickey crossed the lawn to jump the fence that they still hadn’t managed to tear down to combine all three gardens of the mosh-posh clan they were. 

“Why you up already?” Svetlana asked when Mickey flopped down in one of the lounge chairs.

“Couldn’t sleep anymore. Forgot to close the curtains and the sun hit me directly. Ian’s still asleep. Fucker could probably sleep through an earthquake” Mickey explained and emptied his cup of coffee. He then   
moved to take Yev from Svetlana, grinning when the baby recognized his father and giggled.

“Hey little man! You kept momma entertained?” he asked the baby, who only drooled in answer.

“Yevgeny very demanding today. Not happy sitting in bouncy seat” Svetlana informed Mickey, and the man chuckled.

“Feeling a little clingy today, huh?” As if to answer, Yevgeny reached his arms out and took a hold of Mickey’s shirt. The father only smiled and settled his son on his lap. 

“You came home late this morning. Was almost five when I heard you” Svetlana said, and Mickey looked up at her, looking a little sheepish.

“Did we wake you?”

“Nah, baby was up, like I said, very demanding today.”

“Some chick celebrated her bachelorette party at the club. The whole shebang with sash and tiara and shit. They kept on buying drinks and we can’t really kick out paying customers.” Mickey said, referring back to Svetlana’s previous comment.

“Why would you celebrate your bachelorette party at a gay club? It’s the last time you can grind up on other dudes without any repercussions, and you go to the only place where no one will pay any attention to you?” Veronica asked, looking almost offended.

“Fuck if I know. I don’t care who comes to the club as long as they behave and pay” Mickey said with a shrug, then looked up when he heard a window opening over at his house. He saw Ian standing at the window, breathing in the fresh air.

“Morning Sleeping Beauty” Mickey called over and Ian turned to them. Even from the distance Mickey could see Ian smile at them. The window closed again and soon after, Ian came out the back door, coffee in hand, just like him before, bus sans cigarette. Ian had tried stopping his smoking once he had permanently moved in with the Milkoviches. He didn’t want to smoke in front of the baby, and since the baby was with them virtually all the time, he figured he could just quit completely. 

“You were gone” Ian noted when he came over to sit beside Mickey, stopping to press a kiss to first Yevgeny’s head, then to Mickey’s mouth. 

“No shit, Sherlock. I was out here” Mickey said, taking Ian’s cup out of his hands and taking a sip of the overly sugary coffee Ian preferred. Mickey pulled a face when swallowing, which made Yev giggle loudly. Ian   
leaned over the arm rest of his and Mickey’s chairs to nuzzle the baby, pressing kisses to Yevgeny’s face.

“Your Daddy is funny, isn’t he? Yes he is” Ian cooed, blowing a raspberry on Yev’s neck, which resulted in the baby squealing even louder in delight. At the comment, Mickey leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Ian’s neck. He loved seeing Ian with Yev, without any inhibitions whatsoever. He was a father just as much as Mickey was.

“Oh my God, you are so cute together, I could vomit” Veronica commented on the scene, and Mickey flipped her off in return, though he didn’t even look her way.

“You want to eat something?” Svetlana asked then, and the toil of limbs that were Mickey, Ian and the baby disentangled.

“Food would be awesome!”

*** 

Over the course of the afternoon, more and more people joined the group in the Ball’s backyard. Debbie and Carl had spent the day at the community pool, taking Liam along, so they came home in the early hours of the evening, exhausted, stinking of chloride and sticky from ice cream and sun screen. They all dropped into chairs, eagerly scooping up the food Veronica and Svetlana piled on their plates. 

Fiona followed soon after, having finished her shift at the diner, bringing pie for dessert. They had pie more often than not now that Fiona worked at Patsy’s Pies!

Mickey was nursing a beer when he remembered the conversation he and Ian had had earlier that morning in the train. 

“Have you thought any more about what we talked about on our way home?” he asked, nudging Ian with his bottle. Ian looked up from where he was trying to get Yev to eat some of his mashed potatoes, which was proving to be difficult. 

“Well, there is not much to think about. I really would like to go back to school, that’s all.”

“Excuse me, what?” Fiona piped up, looking suddenly very interested in the conversation. 

“I’m thinking of going back to school, finishing senior year, graduating” Ian explained for her.

“Cool! If Ian’s going back to school, then I can drop out!” Carl exclaimed, grinning brightly, while he tried to sneak a sip of Fiona’s bottle of beer.

“No you cannot” Mickey decided, looking annoyed at the younger Gallagher.

“Why the hell not?”

“’Cause I fucking said so” Mickey countered, glaring slightly. 

“You’re one to talk, you dropped out when you were 15. Why should I listen to you?” Carl challenged, even though he knew that he would never be able to win an argument with Mickey. 

“And you really want me as a fucking role model?” Mickey shot back. “Look, you want to deal with dope, right?”

“Yeah, so? If I drop out I can start selling earlier.”

“Yeah, but how the fuck will you know how much your clients owe you? How many grams are in an ounce?”

“How should I know?”

“See? That’s why you need to stay in school, so you can learn your shit and not get scammed by meth heads and junkies.” Carl was quiet, and Mickey smiled triumphantly. He knew that he just needed to provide the right arguments to shut Carl up with his stupid ideas.

“Well, I think it’s great you want to go back to school, then I’m not the only Gallagher in High School” Debbie said then, filling the silence that had followed the argument. Ian smiled at his little sister.

“Don’t think that’s all cool. I could seriously ruin your social life, butt in whenever you’re flirting with some guy!” Ian replied, and Debbie boxed him in the arm. 

“You wouldn’t dare! I would cock block you for a month!” she threatened and had the table erupt in laughter. 

“Mickey would never let you cock block me!”

“Oh don’t be so sure, Firecrotch! I happen to like Debbie, and if you sabotage her life, I might just help her sabotage yours!” Mickey added into the conversation, and Ian turned to look at him straight in the face. 

“Mick, you do know that cock blocking me would also mean cock blocking you, right?!”

“Fuck!”

After everyone had calmed down from the laughing fit that had ensured after Mickey’s realization, Fiona turned to her younger brother and smiled.

“If you want, I can make an appointment for you at the school offices, fill out the documents to have you re-enroll” she offered, but Ian shook his head.

“That’s fine, I’m an adult now, I have to do it myself. But you could give me the number for the school district so I can find out when the offices at school are open” he said, and Fiona nodded, taking out her phone and searching her contacts for the number of the school. After the many times they had called her because of her siblings, it was saved permanently! After finding it, she sent the contact to Ian, and the red-headed Gallagher made a mental note to call the school the next morning. 

“So, would you, like, only finish the last few classes that you’re missing, or would you have to repeat some shit?” V asked then, turning the topic back around.

“I don’t know, I guess they’ll tell me at the office, but I think I’ll just have to retake the whole senior year. I left in the middle of the first semester, didn’t take any finals, so I don’t have any credits that I could count for the year. And anyways, I don’t mind taking another whole year” Ian explained, then looked at Mickey.

“But that would mean I have to quit my job at the club, and that would mean less money for the family” he said to his boyfriend, who just shrugged in reply. 

“I told you earlier that I won’t stop you from going back to school if you want to go. We can deal with the money, we don’t have any rent payments, and Svet and I earn okay money. It would be fine” Mickey reassured Ian, who nodded in relief.

“Hey, and if you really want a job beside school, you can always come wash dishes at the diner. I’m sure Sean wouldn’t mind, he lets me do all the plans for shifts, and we’re short on a bus boy anyways” Fiona added, and Ian sent her a grateful smile.

“That would be great. Thanks, Fi.”

*** 

Ian called the school district the next day, and they told him that as it was already early August, the offices were open constantly and he would have to re-enroll within the week for all the documents to be ready by the start of the year. 

Because of that, Ian saw himself and Mickey, with Yev in the stroller on their way to their old, and Ian’s prospective, high school. 

It was still new to them to just be able to walk around outside openly as a couple. Especially Mickey still had his moments where he would stare at the people they were passing if they were holding hands, daring them to comment on their linked fingers. No one ever did. It would still take some time for him to be really sure about it, but no one, except for the bigoted assholes like his father, cared about who Mickey was in a relationship with. Admittedly, everyone in Southside had their own stuff to deal with, so why would anyone of sound mind care about other people’s business?

Still, walking around openly as a couple, with a baby to top it all off, was something Mickey would still have to learn to get used to. He still loved it, though; loved being able to show how much he loved his boyfriend and their family. 

The trio entered the main offices of the high school, and while Ian approached the counter of the secretary, Mickey sat down in one of the chairs. It was probably the chair he had sat in almost daily back when he had still been in school, waiting for detention or suspension for whatever shit he had done that day. Mickey grinned at the memory. He had been in so much trouble back then!

“Mr. Gallagher. I was happy to hear of your re-enrollment. Who knows, maybe there will be more than one Gallagher graduating from this institution soon. There are a few more of you, right?” the secretary said with a smile, and Ian reciprocated the action.

“Yeah, you’ll have to deal with a few more Gallaghers before you’re rid of us” he joked and moved to fill out one of the many forms the secretary pushed towards him.

“And I see you brought the youngest, didn’t you?” the woman was smiling at the baby in the stroller, who was busy sucking one of the ears of his stuffed rabbit. 

“Oh, no, he’s a Milkovich” Ian said, smiling back at Mickey and Yev.

“Milkovich, huh?”

The secretary moved back to pointing out where Ian had to fill out forms, then moved to the computer to print out Ian’s schedule.

“Mr. Gallagher, seeing as you left before midterms, we don’t have any credits that we could count for your senior year. That means you will have to retake the entire year, you know that, right?”

“Yeah, I figured as much. It’s not a big deal” Ian answered and pushed the now complete documents towards the secretary. She made to type in all his information, but stopped short suddenly. 

“I think you made an error there, Mr. Gallagher. Your address does not correspond with your old one that’s still in the system” she pointed out, but Ian shook his head.

“No, that’s alright. We got the house next door and moved in there” he explained, and the secretary nodded. A look of incomprehension crossed her face at the word ‘we’ but she didn’t ask any further questions. 

“All right then” she said, then moved to continue updating his information. 

It didn’t take long until Ian was handed the approved documents and his new schedule for the semester, and was given a smile by the secretary. 

“I’m looking forward to having you back at school, Mr. Gallagher. From what I could see you were a decent student and it was a shame to see such potential wasted. Welcome back in the educational system” she said and Ian grinned back at her.

“Thank you” he replied and moved to go to where Mickey was waiting on him.

“Mr. Milkovich?” the secretary said then, and Mickey looked up from where he had focused on his son.

“What?”

“How about you? Wouldn’t it be the best opportunity to re-enroll as well, now that you’re here?” the secretary asked, looking at the young man in front of her with questioning eyes. Mickey pulled a face. 

“Yeah, no, I don’t think so. School’s never really been my scene” he said, standing up from his seat to get ready to leave.

“You could be a role model for your child, Mr. Milkovich? Show him how to live a decent life” the woman kept prodding and Mickey was growing annoyed.

“No disrespect, but it’s none of your fucking business” Mickey said, glaring at her. “Besides, Ian’s the responsible parent, I’m the cool one.”

The trio left the secretary with her mouth hanging open at that admission. Apparently, she had not been aware of their situation, however that might be possible. Southside was probably the worst gossip mill in the universe.

A week later, Ian started his last year of high school, Debbie by his side when he entered the double doors to the hallways that used to be so familiar to him. He knew he had made the right decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Lordy, it has been some time! I fully intended to update this story a few weeks ago, but then life got cray-cray with my bachelor paper, and then I went on vacation last week. I didn't have time to write a single word for this story, but I hope I'll be able to pick up a pen soon again! Thankfully I have a few chapters still in my back pocket, so here's something new for you!  
> I'm also going to a convention this weekend where Zach McGowan aka Jody aka Chody is a guest, so maybe meeting him will have me inspired to write on my train ride back!
> 
> As always, thanks for any and all comments, kudos etc from you! It is highly appreciated and I love to hear what you think!


	5. The Naming Business

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my, it has been quite some time, hasn't it?! Sorry for that! I was swamped with work, writing my bachelor thesis and other life events, so writing and updating was literally the last thing on my mind. BUT! I handed in my thesis, I'm on top of my work schedule, and in theory, I should have more time to write again soon... let's hope I can also write in practice, huh?! 
> 
> Anyways, this is really more of a filler chapter, but I liked the idea, and therefore wrote it down!  
> If anyone is more familiar with the Russian language and their naming conventions, please let me know if I got anything wrong! All my knowledge is google based, so I could have taught myself utter bullshit!
> 
> As always, comments of any sort, kudos etc are highly appreciated and rewarded by imaginary cookies!!  
> xx

Ian at first didn’t notice Svetlana’s nicknames for him changing. It was subtle, but once he had noticed it once, it was hard to ignore.

It had started with the Russian stopping calling him Carrot Boy or Orange Boy, which Ian was kind of glad of. He knew his hair was his most prominent feature, but the names still weren’t the most pleasant nicknames he had ever heard. Also, they reminded him of the time when their mismatched family hadn’t been as harmonious as it was now, and he really didn’t like to think back to the time before all getting together. It still hurt.

Svetlana had gone from the derogatory nicknames to simply calling Ian by his first name, if she addressed him by name at all, but in the last few weeks, it had changed again. And not just for him, but for Mickey as well.

Ian wasn’t quite sure what exactly it was she was calling them, because Svetlana’s accent was still thick at times, and her usual speed she was talking with didn’t slow down when talking to either of them, but Ian was certain it was something other than their first names. In fact, they were names he distinctly knew not to be English. 

The following week, after Mickey had picked up Ian from school, their usual routine, they entered their home to find Svetlana standing in the kitchen with her friend and fellow former prostitute Nika, stirring in a pot and chopping vegetables.

“ _Mishka i Kiska doma_ ” Svetlana said to her friend, then moved to where Ian and Mickey were taking off their coats, it was getting cold in Chicago, and kissed both of them on the cheek.

“What happened? Did the store have Russian specialty week?” Mickey asked when he walked into the kitchen, lifting the lid off the pot to see what was cooking. 

“I don’t need specialty week to cook Borscht, have recipe in head” Svetlana replied, smacking Mickey’s fingers when he tried to sneak some of the food she was preparing.

“Svetlana?” Ian asked then, having just then heard the woman use the same names that she called them regularly now.

“Da?”

“What did you just call us? When you talked to Nika?”

“What you mean?” Svetlana turned to look at Ian, who had sat down at the counter.

“You keep calling me a name, but I never know what it is. And you have started calling Mickey something different as well” he elaborated, while pouring himself and Mickey a glass of orange juice while the other young man had gone to check on their son where he was taking an afternoon nap.

“Oh you mean Kiska?”

“Yes! You’ve been calling me that for a few weeks now, and I’m always wondering what it means.”

“Oh, it is petname. Is very common in Russia, everyone has petname” Svetlana explained. “Heritage is important to me, and you are family, so you now experience heritage with me.”

“Petname? Like a nickname?” Ian asked, and Svetlana nodded. “But what’s it mean?”

“It means kitty.”

“Kitty?” Svetlana nodded again. “So you’ve been calling me Pussy for the last few weeks?” 

This comment made both women in the room burst out laughing.

“No, Ian, it is sweet name. Very common in Russia. Means cute little cat. Color of your hair reminds me of kitty I had when I was little girl. So you are Kiska.”

Ian was actually a little flattered at the name now. Svetlana had picked out a name for him that reminded her of something she liked when growing up, and thus had made him part of his heritage. It was kind of humbling. He never had someone do that before. He never even really had a nickname before, his first name making it difficult to find one.

“I never really had a nickname before, one that I liked at least” Ian voiced his thoughts and throwing the Russian a meaningful look that had them both think back to Svetlana’s previous nicknames for Ian. “I like this one.”

“I’m happy you like it. Is very special name.”

Ian moved away from the counter, wondering what Mickey was doing so long upstairs, but reasoning he was probably changing their baby’s diaper or generally just playing with the almost one-year-old baby. Mickey could lose track of time sometimes when he spent it with Yevgeny.

“And what’s the name you’ve been calling Mickey?”

“Mishka. It is diminutive of Mikhailo. Every Russian name has diminutive, they are used as petname, too. Nika is petname, Genya is petname” Svetlana said, and Ian nodded. He had heard the mother call their son ‘Genya’ before, but had never really thought anything about it. He usually called him Yevvy, too. 

“What’s the diminutive for your name, Svetlana? If this naming business is so important to you, we should call you by your petname, too, I think. It makes us all a family” Ian then said, without really thinking about it. It just felt right to him. They were a family, and if this name thing was so important to Svetlana, then who were they to exclude her from it.

Svetlana smiled slightly at Ian’s words, and Ian knew he had said the right thing. 

“There’s many names. My mother called me Svetochka, but everybody else used Sveta. It is very general diminutive” Svetlana said, grinning at the memory.

“Well, then I guess it’s Sveta now” Ian announced, walking to the woman and hugging her to his side. 

“Yo, when’s dinner gonna be ready? I’m starving?” Mickey announced then, coming back down the stairs with their child in arm.

*** 

That evening, when Mickey and Ian were already lying in bed, Ian was busy googling away on his phone. Svetlana had explained a little bit about the whole naming business that was so common in the Russian culture, and the nerd that was hidden inside Ian was incredibly interested in all of the things surrounding it. So he had started researching the naming conventions, and had found a web page that explained everything that even a relatively uneducated American could understand it. 

Suddenly, the young man began to laugh loudly.

“The fuck has you in stitches?” Mickey asked from where he was already trying to sleep, but failing because Ian wasn’t cuddled into his side.

“I just- your-“ Ian tried to explain, but his giggles kept him from forming coherent sentences. Eventually, Ian got himself to calm down a little bit again, and looked at Mickey next to him.

“The nickname Sveta is using for you is not just a diminutive for Mikhailo” he started, then grinned brightly again at the thoughts in his head. “It also means Teddy Bear!” And he started laughing again.

“What the fuck?” Mickey said and snatched Ian’s phone from his limp hands. Scrolling through the page Ian had found the information, he saw Ian’s information confirmed. Scrolling further down, he also saw something else.

“Yeah, well, at least it’s not a fucking female petname, unlike a certain someone’s!” Mickey said and let the phone fall back on Ian’s chest. Ian read through the paragraphs, his mouth standing agape.

“You think she knows that it’s actually a female name?”

“Of course she knows! She’s fucking Russian!” 

“Well, aren’t we a pair. Teddy Bear and Pussycat…” Ian said, looking at Mickey. They were silent for a moment, then burst into laughter.

*** 

The conversation of names came back up two weeks later, on Yevgeny’s first birthday. The special day had been celebrated in the now joint back yard of the Balls, Milkoviches and Gallaghers, with cake that was eaten by everyone except the birthday boy and new toys that were far less interesting to the toddler than the paper they had been wrapped in.

The other members of the patchwork-clan had noticed the new nicknames Svetlana had adopted for the men in her life, but they had just went with them. Svetlana was strange sometimes with her Russian conventions, but no one seemed to have a problem with the names, so why bother.

It was only when Yevgeny was sitting in Fiona’s lap and started babbling incoherent strings of da-da-da-ba-ba-da-ba that the young woman looked up at the parents sitting opposite her.

“So, what’s Yevvy going to call you two when he starts talking? Two daddies might be a bit confusing for the little guy” she said, stroking her hand through the boy’s blond hair. 

Ian and Mickey looked at each other. They had not talked about that before, but maybe they should have. Before either of them could say anything though, Sveta began talking.

“Well, in Russia you say Papa-“

“What does that have to do with anything?” Mickey asked, cutting of the woman’s words.

“Mishka, you are from Slavic family, you cannot deny. Heritage is important, and Genya will have to learn about culture. So you will be Papa, and Ian will be American Daddy. Best of both worlds, no?”

Mickey scowled at Svetlana’s bossy tone, but he could not deny that her words weren’t true. He had never really been confronted with his heritage, but his mother had always found it important that he and his siblings knew where their family came from originally. Both his parents had been born in America, but his grandparents had all been from Ukraine. He guessed it didn’t hurt to have a small reminder of his origin in his family life. 

“Whatever. Just don’t quote Hannah Fucking Montana to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:
> 
> Mishka i Kiska doma --> Mishka and Kiska are home (according to Google translate! Please tell me if that's completely wrong!!)  
> Da --> yes


	6. An Unwanted Reappearance

Mickey was standing in front of the High School, waiting for the bell to indicate the end of the day and let the students out. Mickey was trying to entertain his son while waiting for the child’s other father to emerge from the building. He hoped Ian didn’t have to stay longer than necessary for some project or something like that. They had an appointment at the Free Clinic for Yev to get a few shots, and even with a scheduled appointment they would have to wait some time. Mickey didn’t want to arrive later than necessary.

Just then, the bell sounded and the large doors to the building opened and kids streamed out, making their way to the waiting busses, cars or bikes, or walking out of the premises and towards their homes.

Mickey didn’t have to wait long for the bright red hair of Ian Gallagher to appear in his view. Ian was walking down the steps, accompanied by another boy. They were talking animatedly, but as soon as Ian looked up and spotted Mickey in his usual waiting spot, the red head grinned brightly.

“Hey Mick” Ian greeted the older man and then leaned down to press a kiss to Yevgeny’s cheek in the stroller. When he came up, he also placed a kiss on Mickey’s cheek. 

“So who’s your entourage?” Mickey asked then, motioning with his head to the boy Ian had walked with to the gates.

“Oh!” Ian exclaimed and turned to look at the blond boy next to him. “That’s Jason, he’s in my Government class, we’re doing a project together” he explained with a smile.

“Nice to meet you…” the blonde, Jason, said, extending a hand towards Mickey. Mickey shook the hand, chuckling at the expression on Jason’s face when he saw Mickey’s knuckle tattoos. Those tattoos still had the desired effect, even in their faded condition. He would have to touch them up soon.

“Jason, that’s my boyfriend, Mickey, and our baby” Ian announced, and Mickey could clearly hear the pride in his voice while saying those words. Mickey couldn’t hold this against Ian, he probably sounded just the same whenever he talked about Yev being both his and Ian’s son.

“Oh! Ian’s said something about a baby” Jason replied at the introduction and smiled at the toddler in the stroller. “He’s really cute.”

“Isn’t he?” Ian said, but he was looking more at Mickey than at Yevgeny. Mickey rolled his eyes at that.

“Can we get going? We have an appointment at the Free Clinic and we’re late already” he said, trying to change the subject.

“Oh, I don’t want to keep you” Jason said, backing away from the couple around the stroller. “See you in class Ian. It was nice to meet you, Mickey.”

Ian and Mickey started walking along the street, making their way to the Free Clinic.

“Why didn’t you set the appointment for noon or something? You could have gone without me” Ian asked, holding Mickey hand where he had placed it on the stroller, pushing it along.

“Nahh, you need to be there with me” Mickey started, looking over at Ian’s quizzical face. “I might punch the doc if he makes Yev cry with the shots and I need you to hold me back.”

“Aww, you’re such a dad, Mickey! I will keep you from punching any doctors” Ian cooed, squeezing Mickey’s hand tight.

The pair continued walking for a moment, until they came to their familiar blocks of streets. Just outside the Kash’n’Grab Ian stopped suddenly.

“Let me just quickly head inside, okay?” Ian said, already detaching himself from Mickey and walking towards the store’s entrance.

“Why? We’re already late, Ian.”

“I forgot to take any water with me and I need to take my meds soon. It will just be a moment, okay?” Ian knew that the mention of his meds would always make Mickey relent.

“Okay but hurry the fuck up!”

Ian walked into the familiar store and immediately headed to the fridges at the back to get a bottle of water. That was really all he wanted and needed, but on his way to the check out, he walked past the aisle with baby supplies and kid snacks, and the young man stopped. After the ordeal at the doctors, Yev would have earned himself a few animal crackers, right? Getting shots was unpleasant even to him now with almost 19 years old, so a baby would be even more traumatized by a needle sticking him. With those thoughts in mind, Ian picked up a bag of the kid friendly crackers and headed for the check out. A boy he had never seen before was standing behind the counter where Ian himself used to stand and work a few years before.

“Ian?”

Ian froze at the all too familiar voice. He hadn’t thought he would ever see or hear him again, but when he turned, Kash stood right in front of him. A little too close for Ian’s comfort even. 

Kash hadn’t changed much over the years he had been absent. He still wore his hair a little longer and slicked back, still wore the same kind of clothes. Still wore the same kind of smile on his face. A smile that used to make Ian swoon, but now only made him uncomfortable.

“Hey Kash.”

“Wow, look at you, Ian Gallagher, all grown up. It has been a long time since I last saw you” Kash said, moving even closer to Ian and leaning against the counter, where the guy at the checkout was still standing, waiting for the money Ian owed.

“It’s been a few years, yes” Ian wanted to keep this conversation as short-lived as possible. Not just because Mickey was waiting outside and they had an appointment, but also because Ian didn’t want to be this close to Kash for longer than necessary. 

What had Ian been thinking back when he had been with Kash? This person was not as desirable as he had appeared to his fifteen-year-old self.

“What are you doing now, Ian? At college?”

“Still High School, actually. I took some time off, and now I’m finishing senior year.” Kash did not need to know why exactly Ian had ‘taken some time off’ from school before.

“Oh. Well, I’m sure you’re doing great. What else is going on with you? Have a boyfriend?”

And there it was, the dreaded question. It wasn’t that Ian felt embarrassed about Mickey being his boyfriend and having to admit this to Kash. No, it was simply Kash wanting to know stuff that Ian wasn’t willing to share with him. But in order to get out of the store quicker, he would have to.

“Yeah, I have actually” he said while handing over a five dollar bill for his purchases. 

“Those for him?” Kash asked, pointing at the animal crackers with a slight smirk. Cold shudders ran down Ian’s back. How could he have ever felt anything remotely different than disgust in Kash’s presence?

“What? No, they’re for my son, actually.”

“Son? You have a child?”

“Yeah, well, my boyfriend and I have a son.” If that didn’t scream committed relationship, then Ian didn’t know what would. Maybe it would get Kash off his back. 

“Wow. A son. Don’t you think you’re a bit too young to settle down? Don’t you want to have a bit more fun before starting a family?” Kash didn’t seem to get the memo that Ian really didn’t want to talk to him.

“Well, I love my family. And I would never walk out on them, unlike other people” Ian replied, leveling a hard stare at the older man. He reached for his shopping and his change, then walked past Kash and out the store. 

“What took you so long?” Mickey asked when the pair continued to walk towards the Free Clinic.

“Kash was there.”

“Kash was- Why the fuck didn’t you get me?!” Mickey exclaimed, wanting to turn around immediately and go back to the store.

“Mick, stop, it doesn’t matter. We’re gonna be late for Yev’s shots” Ian tried to calm his boyfriend down, but Mickey still frowned deeply.

“It does matter when it makes you uncomfortable. That guy is a fucking creep and he shouldn’t be allowed near children. You could still sue him, you know? Hell, I could still sue him for shooting me!” Mickey ranted. He knew Ian was uncomfortable around certain people, and he was certain that Kash was included on the undesired people list.

“Well, he did make me uncomfortable, kept asking stuff that he shouldn’t have any interest in, but I shut him up quite well, I think” Ian replied, not delving any further into the matter. They had arrived at the Free Clinic, and their whole focus needed to be on their son. 

*** 

It was a few days later that Mickey and Ian found themselves back on their way to the Kash’n’Grab with Yevgeny in his stroller, after Svetlana had sent them on a last minute grocery run for a few things she needed for their dinner. 

“Fucking typical of Sveta to forget buying half the things on the list she wrote. She was probably on the phone with Nika when she went shopping and had her head in the clouds” Mickey muttered when they walked across the street that led them to the store.

“It’s not half the list she forgot, only like two or three things. And you forget to buy things more than enough, you can’t really hold this against Sveta” Ian tried to calm his boyfriend, but he secretly liked seeing Mickey annoyed, he was cute when agitated. You just shouldn’t tell him that.

“Well, she forgot pasta for her pasta dish, that’s pretty fucking stupid in my book” Mickey continued, and glared at Ian when the taller man laughed at his words.

“Well, this way we also got a little exercise today. You didn’t lift your ass from the couch the whole day so far.”

“I can imagine a better way to exercise, Firecrotch” Mickey murmured, slapping Ian’s ass. Mickey had grown to be more comfortable being seen with Ian in public ever since Ian had started going back to school.   
Him picking Ian up in the afternoon meant that they were seen together often, and the lack of negative reaction to their relationship had strengthened his confidence in showing his attachment to Ian. 

“Don’t worry about that kind of work out!” Ian said with a chuckle and pulled open the door to the store. 

The Kash’n’Grab was empty but for a few straggling customers and the boy Ian had already seen working at the store before. The couple worked their way through the aisles, pushing the stroller along and placing the items Svetlana had sent them to get in Ian’s arms. They were debating on what kind of pasta Svetlana would want for her dish, when they heard shuffling behind them.

“You’re with Mickey?!”

Ian and Mickey turned at the same time to look into the stunned face of Kash, holding a pack of cans that he was obviously just replacing on the shelf.

“Look who the cat dragged in!” Mickey greeted the undesired man, his face showing his usual smirk that he wore when he knew he had the upper hand on someone. “Long time no see, Towel Head. How about I sue you for shooting me in the leg, huh?”

Kash stared at Mickey and the baby in between Mickey and Ian for a moment, then looked up and at Ian.

“You’re way too good for him. Do you really want to stay in this shithole forever? You will if you stay with him.” Ian could feel Mickey tense beside him, and he put a hand on his arm to keep him at bay.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about, Kash. A lot of time has passed since you were here last. And even so, you’re not the one to decide what’s good and what is not” Ian replied, staring hard at Kash. He didn’t like the way he had talked about his family. If there was one thing he had learnt in his shitty life in Southside, it was that family was valued above anything else. 

“What the hell is going on here? Why aren’t you working?” Ian and Mickey heard then, and the pair turned to see Linda Karib walking down the stairs in the backroom.

“Ian, Mickey, it’s been a long time since I last saw you here” she greeted the pair, smiling at the baby in his stroller. Apparently word about their family had gotten around even to her.

“Your baby is sweet. How old is he now?” Linda asked, not even sparing her husband a look.

“Just turned one last month” Mickey supplied the information, and Linda nodded. 

“Maybe I have a few things upstairs that I could give you. Clothes and stuff, my boy’s are too big for that by now.”

“That would be nice, thanks Linda” Ian replied, sending the woman a genuine smile. Linda walked through the store and to the counter, where she started filling cigarette packs into the shelves.

“Why did you take him back, Linda? You’re far too good for him” Mickey burst out then, completely disregarding the fact that Kash was still standing across from him, box in arms, staring at the couple. Linda turned from her work and smiled slightly.

“Don’t worry, Mickey. Just because he’s back here doesn’t mean I let him into the apartment. We are joint owners of the store, so I can’t deny him the work, but he’s not seeing the kids or anything like that” Linda explained. “He has lost all rights to that when he walked out on me when I was pregnant.”

“Good on you, Linda. Make sure it stays like that” Mickey told the older woman, smiling at her. No matter what kind of shit had happened while he had worked at the store, he had always liked Linda. She was fucking badass. 

While Ian walked to the counter to pay for the few items they were getting, Mickey stayed in the aisle with Yev. The boy working at the counter before had shuffled to unboxing packs of chips and shelving them, close to where Kash was unboxing the cans he had been holding before. Mickey didn’t like what he saw. Kash was standing close to the boy, whispering something to him, and the boy blushed deeply at the words. Mickey didn’t like what he saw at all. He would have to put an end to this before it even started. Before it got as bad as it had been with Ian. And this boy seemed even younger than Ian had been.

“Mickey, are you coming?” Ian asked then from his spot at the door, and Mickey moved his gaze from the undesirable picture at the back of the aisle to his boyfriend. 

“Yeah, sure” he simply said and then pushed the stroller out of the door Ian held open. 

The pair walked in silence for a while, each deep in their own thoughts, until Mickey couldn’t take it anymore.

“How could you have been with that creep? How could you have not noticed he was taking advantage of you?” Mickey voiced his questions and was met with a deep sigh from his boyfriend.

“I was stupid and lonely, and he put thoughts in my head that weren’t true. Looking back now, I would like to punch myself” Ian admitted and smiled slightly at Mickey. 

“You were fucking stupid, that’s true. Thank God I came along!” the older man joked, grinning brightly, and earning himself a whack across the back of the head.

“You’re such a punk, Mick.”

“You love it.”

“I do.”

*** 

That night, after dinner and a beer, Mickey couldn’t keep his mind from straying to the things he had witnessed at the store earlier. It wasn’t any of his business, but he still didn’t like the kid maybe having to go through the same brainwashing that Ian had gone through.

With his mind made up, the brunet got up from the couch and walked to where he had left his jacket.

“Where are you going?” Ian asked from his perch on the other couch, where he sat together with Svetlana and was watching some kind of casting show Mickey hadn’t paid any attention to.

“Got an errand to run.”

“Don’t do stupid things” Svetlana warned her husband, but didn’t even look up from the TV. 

Mickey didn’t look back at Ian. He knew the disapproving look he would get from the younger man, and Mickey didn’t need any reminder that the thing he was going to do was pretty stupid. He shouldn’t get involved, he couldn’t risk anything going wrong, but at the same time he didn’t want the kid to be left alone in the shit situation he either already was in or undoubtedly would be in the near future.

Mickey took a short cut through the neighborhood and arrived at the Kash’n’Grab within a few minutes. The store was still open, as he had suspected, and it was thankfully empty except for the boy working there, and Kash, who was standing far too close to the boy for Mickey’s liking.

“Yo, Towel Head.”

“What do you want-“ Mickey didn’t even wait for Kash to finish his sentence before he walked over to him and slammed his fist into Kash’s face, then his head onto the counter, pressing down to keep it in place.

“What I want?” he asked, looking down at the man who was struggling to get back up. “I want you to fucking keep your hands to yourself, you understand me? You are a disgusting kid fucker, and you need to be buried alive, but I can’t do that without landing myself in prison. So you better stay away from anyone who is underage and could fall into your fucking hands.”

Mickey pressed further onto Kash’s head and the older man groaned in pain. His nose was leaking blood onto the counter, seeping through his shirt that had ridden up and stuck under his head.

“And I want you to stay away from Ian and my kid, you understand me? You get near any of them, and I will tear your limbs from your body, you hear? You will wish you were dead because I would do far worse to you.” Mickey let go of Kash then, wiping blood from his hands.

“You.” Mickey turned to the teenager standing frozen next to the counter. “How old are you?”

"Four-fourteen?” The boy said, worrying what was going to happen next.

“Fourteen, huh?” Mickey turned back to Kash and punched the man in the stomach, making him groan and double over. “You like them even younger now? What comes next? Fucking firstgraders?”

Mickey walked out from behind the counter, snatching a Snickers Bar in the process and ripping it open with his teeth.

“You gotta make sure you won’t get caught for working while underage, kid, you hear me?” he said and the boy nodded. “And if that fucking scumbag tries anything with you, anything at all, you ask for Mickey Milkovich, okay? He will wish he was never born.”

Mickey waited for the boy to nod his head, then walked out of the store. 

*** 

Mickey tried to close the door quietly behind him, so as to not let Ian and Svetlana notice he was back. His knuckles were bleeding slightly from where the skin had broken when hitting Kash in the face, and he wanted to clean the cuts before anyone noticed. His hands were also heavily smeared with Kash’s blood from his probably broken nose.

Of course he didn’t manage that, because Ian was standing in the middle of the kitchen when he arrived, making tea for himself and Svetlana.

“What the fuck happened?” Ian exclaimed when he saw the blood in Mickey’s hands and his shirt.

“Don’t worry, it’s not my blood.”

“Let’s fucking hope it’s not your blood! Who was your errand? Who did you punch?” Ian wet a dish towel and moved to dab at the blood on Mickey’s hands.

“Kash.”

“Of course it was Kash. Why did you go back?” Ian rubbed a little harder than necessary on his wounds, and Mickey winced at the sting it evoked.

“I couldn’t just stand back and let the new kid working there experience the same thing you did. He’s even younger than you were, even younger! Kash should be on the fucking sex predator list or something. He shouldn’t be allowed in a neighborhood with kids. I just wanted to make sure he knew what would happen if he made a wrong move” Mickey ranted, pulling back his hand when the sting got too bad from Ian’s rubbing away the blood.

“And you just had to let your fists talk, didn’t you? Never heard of verbal communication?”

“Oh I talked plenty. I just made sure he really understood the consequences of his actions.”

Ian moved to one of the cabinets and pulled out a box of band-aids. He pulled one out and placed it on top of the worst cut. It had dinosaurs on them. The sight made them both chuckle.

“Come on, tough guy. For the stupid shit you just pulled you’ll have to sit through American Idol with me” Ian said then, pulling Mickey back into the living room by the hand.

“I’m hurt, isn’t that punishment enough?”

“Nope, not even close!”

Two hours of Mickey groaning at the TV program later, the pair made their way to their bedroom. They peeked into Yev’s nursery once to make sure the baby was sleeping soundly, and then took off their clothes and laid down under the blankets together. Ian shuffled closer to Mickey and rested his head on Mickey’s chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. He picked up one of Mickey’s damaged hands and pressed a kiss to the already bruising knuckles.

“I don’t like what you did, but I understand your reasons for it. I don’t want Kash to get to any other kid like he got to me” he said quietly, and smiled when Mickey started combing his free fingers through Ian’s hair.

“I also told Kash to stay away from you or he would wish he was dead. I don’t want you to suffer because of him. It was bad enough back then, you don’t need a reminder of it every time you go shopping for a bottle of water” Mickey admitted, and Ian lifted his head slightly to smile at his boyfriend. He pressed his lips to Mickey’s in a short, but sweet kiss, then settled back down on his chest.

“You’re my hero, my ass-kicking, nose-punching hero.”

“And you fucking love me for it!”

“Yeah, I do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowee, it has been quite some time, hasn't it? But at least I'm back now, and I have to say that I love this chapter! I hope you do so as well!
> 
> As always, comments of any kind are greatly appreciated!


End file.
